Planning Your First Major Industry Event: What Actually Matters

Walking into a major industry trade show as a first time exhibitor can be intimidating. There are booths that are massive and decked out, companies with multiple team members working the event, and brands that all seem to know what they’re doing. For first time attendees, it can be easy to feel like they are out of their element before even walking through the door.

The good news is that most of the aspects of a successful trade show experience have nothing to do with spending. When it comes to planning for your first major industry event, there are ways to avoid wasting time and money.

Get The Booth Right

The booth is everything. People have to come to the booth, they need to interact with it, and this first impression is major. If it’s not right, nothing else matters—no product, no pitch or any aspect that usually has something to do with money.

Many first time exhibitors do not realize how much of the experience is determined by the booth. If it’s small with no seating and bad lighting, nobody is going to rush over to check out an offer. On the other hand, if it’s wide open and they feel on display just by entering, they might not feel comfortable walking inside. It has to be thought out in a proper way.

Professional trade show booths - Orlando, FL or wherever the show happens to be taking place can manage this design process, which will reduce many of the stresses that first time booth owners have about how to make their brand booth into a 3D space. But if companies decide they want to do this themselves, it’s critical that it looks planned—not like someone threw it together on the way to the event.

What Needs To Be Done Before The Event Day?

A lot! Showing up with a couple boxes of brochures does not cut it. Those who make the most of their trade show experience recognize it’s part of a greater strategy.

First, know who is going to be attending and what other companies they might be interested in connecting with. A lot of trade shows provide exhibitor directories or attendees access to this information. This makes it easier for those working the event to know who to target.

Second, ensure that everyone working the booth knows what they need to accomplish. Too many companies send people who have no idea what their goal is when interacting with people who come to the booth. Some preparation goes a long way.

Third, ensure that there is a plan after the show. Just collecting business cards is worth nothing if you don’t actually do anything with them!

The people who successfully cultivate these connections into meaningful business relationships are the people who get in touch within days of the event while people still remember the interactions they had.

Engagement Strategies That Will Actually Work

Waiting behind the booth for people to come and talk to you doesn’t work. People will be too busy trying to avoid conversations that they can’t walk away from. The people who have the most success at these events are the people who make it easy for people to interact with them, and hard for them to pass by without at least acknowledging their presence.

Demonstrations are far better than flyers or brochures. If there’s an opportunity to engage people with what a product or service does, it’s far more valuable than a piece of paper.

Giveaway items help pull people in but generic branded pens won’t cut it. Something of value or a potential prize seems to yield better results and minimizes simple interactions where people pick up a pen and keep walking.

Providing comfort matters. If someone comes to the booth and they want to sit down and they have the opportunity to do so in comfort with decent lighting that doesn’t feel like a marketing trap asking them for money, they’ll engage longer. Better conversations usually yield better leads.

What To Do (And Not Do) If You Are An Exhibitor For The First Time

One of the biggest mistakes companies make as exhibitors who are new to the trade show world is spending a lot on things that don’t matter, and not enough on things that do. Pretty graphics on the booth are impressive but if the layout is off and people working the booth were not prepped to interact with attendees who have questions or conversation opportunities, the booth won’t matter.

Another mistake is assuming that everything will be fine if they are just working the booth. This should be treated as an all-encompassing experience revolving around business development for attendees of the trade show, which means networking at any opportunity that arises—this is even in passing conversations in the hallways or during breaks! This can yield some of the best leads.

A third, and final mistake, revolves around logistics. Many first time attendees forget about things arriving in the wrong place, when packages can be dropped off or picked up again, what this fee entitles them to as an exhibitor, etc. Convention centers are strict about these things and mistakes can lead to costly mistakes if deadlines are missed.

What Success Means

A successful first trade show means nothing related to who many people stopped by or the flashiest booth. It has everything to do with who generates quality leads, learns what works and what does not work, and then create processes where they can funnel this innovative networking opportunity into something useful for their business after the event.

Nobody gets this perfect on their first try—at least nobody who is being honest about their experience! While brand recognition can lead to people having smoother experiences down the line, the priority should always be just to get through without doing anything too terrible, and create a framework that will make future events manageable.